Industrial music lost one of its most unique and prolific artists
when Bryn Jones of Muslimgauze died of a rare blood disease on January 14, 1999.

Bryn Jones left behind a musical legacy of over 90 albums released
before his death and more than 50 released after his death. Musically, Muslimgauze
strived to be hard to define. There is no "typical sounding" Muslimgauze
release. He collaborated with a number of different artists in different genres.
Early Muslimgauze releases in the 1980s were drum machine-oriented. He did a
dub CD with the Rootsman. He made a few drum and bass singles. He did dance
remixes and ambient albums. Later releases could almost be classified as noise
albums. Throughout his career though, there is a definite Muslimgauze style
of middle-eastern rhythms that is trance-inducing and infectious.

While sales of Muslimgauze CDs have never been earth shattering,
Muslimgauze retains a strong cult following even after the death of its creator.
The prolific nature of Bryn Jones has meant that new material is still being
released five years after his death. Muslimgauze's catalog is a collector's
dream project. Most albums had a maximum press run of 2000 copies. Early cassettes
can be maddeningly difficult to hunt for - the first homemade cassette recently
sold on eBay for nearly $1000.

Part of some fanatics' attraction to Muslimgauze is not entirely
musical, but is about finding clues about its mysterious front man. In the more
than one hundred Muslimgauze releases, none have included a photo of Bryn Jones.
For a musician, he showed an unusual amount of camera shyness, and very few
pictures of Jones have been published. The politics of Muslimgauze is another
attraction to some. While sometimes cryptic, Jones showed an unwavering, relentless
dedication to the Palestinian struggle. At times Bryn seemed to be casting a
sorrowful eye at poverty in Arabic states, while at other times seeming to give
ambiguous support to violent terrorist organizations like Hamas.

In numerous articles, Bryn Jones said that his inspiration in
starting Muslimgauze was the invasion of Lebanon in 1981. In an article in Network
News in 1990, Bryn Jones said, "Every piece of music Muslimgauze release
is motivated by a political fact, mostly Palestinian. Also, Iran and Afghanistan."
Yet, Bryn was an Englishman, had no ethnic ties to the Middle East, and never
visited the region.

Five years after Bryn's death, his music is more relevant than
ever.

One can't help but feel that the timing of his death was inopportune
when you look at what has happened in the Middle East (and the world) since
then. Muslimgauze fans can't help but wonder what Bryn would have thought of
these events, and what they would have inspired him to create.

Bryn Jones' death came as a complete surprise. No one seemed
to be aware of any health problems before Jones contracted pneumonia in December
1998, and was rushed to a hospital on New Years Eve. In the hospital, Jones
slipped into a coma from which he would not recover.

At the time, Bryn was working with Martin Lee Stephenson of
Apollon on the Year Zero CD. They worked together by trading source material
back and forth.

"It was a shock. I was working on Year Zero with him at
the time. We had just finished and he sent me a Christmas card which included
his track list names. I spoke to him just before Christmas and his kit had broken
down. He was a little frustrated. A few days later he died. Year Zero was Bryn's
last finished work. I was deeply sad. I miss him."

Bryn was a very private man. If he did have any prior health
conditions he kept them a secret from his collaborators, business partners,
friends and even his own family. Bryn's nephew Gareth Jones currently handles
the musical side of Muslimgauze.

"We didn't know anything at all [about any health problems].
It was a very big shock," Gareth said. "We knew he had pneumonia at
first. Normally with pneumonia you treat it and it would eventually go away
normally. It was such that his body couldn't fight the pneumonia and it put
him into a coma. This fungal virus thing just took over and there was absolutely
nothing we could do. Making the decision to turn off the life support machine
was very, very hard. But in the end, it was down to keeping his dignity. We
all sat there with him. It was a very hard time."

Gareth said that while his family was grieving Bryn's passing,
thousands of e-mails flooded in offering condolences.

"The amount of e-mails we got when he died was amazing.
It was really touching. There's a lot of grief, especially for my grandma and
granddad. And it did help. I went on to the forum [lslamaphonia] and thanked
everybody for all the comments that everyone sent to us. It did mean a lot to
us."

Geert-Jan Hobijn of Staalplaat records was with Bryn Jones'
family when Bryn died. Hobijn had the grim responsibility of accepting the DAT
tapes of all of Bryn's music, some finished and unfinished. "There is material
from his room that his parents gave to me," Hobijn said. "When I objected
they said, 'If you don't take it we will throw it away.' I took all I could
but have released nothing that was a work in progress."

Staalplaat currently keeps Muslimgauze fanatics happy with their
subscription service. When a new Muslimgauze release (or re-release) comes out,
it's sent to the subscriber, and an amount is deducted from the subscriber's
balance. There have been 30 subscription releases so far. I asked Hobijn if
he thought the service could last another five years. "It is hard to say.
I have a few masters, but I tend to change my mind a lot."

Gareth Jones retains control over the business side of Muslimgauze,
but has a mostly hands off approach. Gareth said, "They run everything
by me. I really just tell them do what they like. I let them get on with it,
because they know the stuff."

There is no "approval committee" for new Muslimgauze
material. Each label is free to interpret how to design and package the material
they're releasing on their label.

The album cover design is sometimes one of the few clues the
listener has to interpret Muslimgauze's work. The cover to the Betrayal CD featured
the famous handshake between Rabin and Arafat. Ayatollah Khomeni was a frequent
cover subject. The cover to Hebron Massacre included press clippings with pulled
quotes about revenge killings against Jews in response to the Hebron Massacre.
Most album covers were created by the record labels, and approved by Bryn. But
with Bryn gone, the question arises of what should be on the cover of a Muslimgauze
release? Do you follow Bryn's tradition of using politically charged images
on the cover even though he can't approve them anymore? Or would that be presumptuous
of what Bryn would have thought about events that have occurred after his death?

I asked Charles Powne of Soleilmoon if there was ever a question
about what Bryn would have thought about the design of a CD. "No, there
was never any question about these issues. He never objected to any of the covers
we made."

At press time, no one has used an image of the World Trade Center
Towers on the cover of a Muslimgauze release. John Goff is the producer of a
Muslimgauze remix project that has released one record of Bryn's work remixed
by other artists. He puts it best when he said, "I wouldn't feel comfortable
making that bold of a statement for someone else's artwork."

I asked Martin Lee Stephenson if he felt that making music was
a political act for Bryn. "Very much so," Stephenson said. "He
felt that making music was his way of getting his message across."

Stephenson is the driving force of the band Apollon and collaborated
with Bryn Jones. "I think it is fairly safe to assume Bryn would be influenced
by 9/11," Martin said. "It may have sparked a whole new era in his
work."

In the sleeve notes to "Muslimgauze vs. Bass Communion",
Steven Wilson of Bass Communion recalls asking Bryn about his music influences.
"I learned that Bryn did not feel an affinity for ANY other music, his
agenda being almost entirely political."

What the message of Muslimgauze was exactly is open to interpretation.
For some, anti -Semitism is the 800-pound gorilla that accompanies Muslimgauze's
work. While there is nothing overtly racist against Jews within Muslimgauze's
music, some are made uncomfortable by tracks with names like "Tel Aviv
Nailbomb" or "No Human Rights for Arabs in Israel."

Almost all of Muslimgauze is instrumental. It's impossible to
point to one track or album and say that something is or is not anti-Semitic.
His music is ambiguous on the subject, and that makes some people uncomfortable.

At the two largest labels that released Muslimgauze, neither
Powne at Soleilmoon nor Hobijn of Staalplaat could remember a single complaint
lodged against their respective companies that claimed that Muslimgauze was
anti-Semitic. According to Powne, the worst was: "One or two people have
tossed around the anti-Semite slur from time to time."

Terry Bennett has been the webmaster of the official Muslimgauze
web site, the Messenger, for years. He recalls, "There have been a couple
of e-mails over the years of the nasty sort. I would ask Bryn if he'd like to
pass along any personal response from him and it was always the same. 'Tell
them to fuck off.' I loved it. I took it to task to respond on occasion speaking
from my own point of view. Mostly it was a case of what right does one have
to express their view and Bryn doesn't have to express his."

Hobijn recalls, "Bryn was not an anti-Semite. He did [an]
interview in an Israeli newspaper that came to the same conclusion, and in Berlin
he played during an Israeli festival. He would not be my friend nor be on Staalplaat
if he was [anti-Semitic]."

The Anti-Defamation League's web site contains no warnings about
Muslimgauze being anti-Semitic. And while Muslimgauze's critics may say that's
because the ADL have never heard of him, a counter-argument could be made that
Bryn Jones never gave the ADL a reason to appear on their Web site.

Muslimgauze is and was polarizing on an extremely sensitive
subject. People can have very strong opinions on the conflict in the Middle
East, and a "with us or against us" attitude exists with extremists
on both sides. One underlying question about Muslimgauze is: is it possible
to support the Palestinians without being an anti-Semite? Even though Jones
was neither a Muslim nor of Arab descent, is it possible that he was deeply
touched by Islamic culture, and deeply disturbed by what he saw as vast injustice
committed against Palestinians and Arabs?
"Bryn had an opinion, but did not mind others having a different opinion."
Hobijn said. "I think his opinion was an artistic opinion and I have never
seen a more interesting, powerful and beautiful one. I miss him for that."

While a lot of Muslimgauze currently being released are re-releases
of previous work, there is still some unreleased material that is still being
released five years posthumously. And not just on Staalplaat or Soleilmoon.
There are a variety of small labels releasing Muslimgauze CDs.
According to Hobijn, "If you would ask Bryn for a track on a compilation,
you would get a 60 minute DAT tape." Which may explain why more than 10
different smaller labels have released Muslimgauze CDs since Bryn Jones' death.

Charles Powne from Soleilmoon adds, "He gave a lot of music
to other labels, a good portion of which have never paid a dime for the use
of his music. It's standard practice in the independent music business, unfortunately.
I'm not afraid to name-and-shame Australian label Extreme in this context. Many
excuses, very few accountings of sales even fewer payments."

Very few people would speak on the record about Extreme Records...
including Extreme Records themselves. They did not respond to repeated requests
for an interview. According to one source, Extreme remixed some of his music
and changed the text of his CDs without his permission.

Extreme's loss proved to be Soleilmoon's and Staalplaat's gain.
After leaving Extreme, Bryn Jones released dozens of records on those two labels.
Including the very first CD on Staalplaat, and the second cassette release on
Soleilmoon. Bryn Jones told Terry Bennett that if those two labels hadn't stepped
in, Jones didn't think he would have been able to continue on with Muslimgauze.

Sales of Muslimgauze material had increased by late 1998 when
Steven of Bass Communion last talked to him. "By this time a limited edition
series had been a big success and his CDs were regularly reviewed [and] discussed.
Many other musicians had asked him to remix their work or collaborate with them
and his music had inspired a fanatical following."

The girth of the Muslimgauze catalog is astounding to say the
least. The official Muslimgauze web site lists 177 separate Muslimgauze releases.

"Obsessive would not be too strong a word to describe [Bryn],"
according to Powne at Soleilmoon. "I think Bryn was nothing more than an
artist with a single-minded drive to record music. Towards the end he'd accumulated
an impressive collection of recording equipment and was turning out a complete
album every week, sometimes faster."

According to Hobijn, Bryn would sometimes work at a studio outside
of his home. "He would get up and go to the studio and work all day, non-stop."
Hobijn told a story of a time when Bryn stayed with him. "Once we slept
late, and Bryn was up for some time. My girlfriend asked if it was a problem,
'no,' he said, 'but at home half a CD would be ready by now!'"

According to Stephenson, Bryn had a brilliant sense of humor.
"I'm not sure he was easy to get to know," Martin said. "People
liked him because he was pleasant, intelligent company, but he didn't trust
many people."

That's a sentiment that Bryn's nephew agrees with. "I don't
think he did trust very many people," Gareth said. "He did like to
keep everything to himself. He'd sit in his bedroom for days on end, making
tracks and things like that. He did like to keep things to himself."

Powne from Soleilmoon said "I think [Bryn] really valued
his privacy. I'd say he was a bit of a recluse, and I don't think he formed
many friendships outside of the world of music. Mostly we talked about his latest
recording projects. I think it was the most important thing in his life, so
perhaps it's not surprising."

Bennett of the Muslimgauze web site agreed. "He was a very
quiet and humble fellow who never quite believed the impact his music was having
on those that followed it."
"He was a very secretive person," Gareth said. "He was a big
Manchester United fan. And I'm a big Bolton Wanderers fan... and the teams don't
like each other! I'd listen to certain things of his and go, 'What the hell's
that?' And he'd say 'Well what the hell are you listening to?' He'd listen to
my music and say it was crap. That was the kind of relationship we had. We'd
just have a laugh."

Gareth Jones' earliest memories of his uncle are musical. "Even
when I was five years old, he had this musical sort of talents then. Sitting
in his bedroom, watching him play about with all sorts of stuff... drums and
bongos and all sorts of things," Gareth added. "He let me have a bang
about on his drums!"

'Bryn Jones is deeply missed. Both on a personal level by those
who knew him, and on a musical level by those who were inspired by him. Powne
mentioned "Although he may have had imitators, he always had a sound that
was entirely his own."

What Bryn's legacy is, has not yet been determined. While Muslimgauze's
sales never caught the world on fire, there are hundreds of artists, DJs, labels
and fans that keep Muslimgauze's music alive every day. And when the well finally
runs dry and there is no more new Muslimgauze music and nothing left to re-release,
people like John Goff will keep his music going through remixes and reinterpretations.
Bryn Jones has been dead for five years, but Muslimgauze lives on and continues
to inspire people worldwide. Viva Muslimgauze.

For newcomers, Muslimgauze's back catalog of material can be pretty intimidating,
With 177 different choices, where's a good place to start?

Here are some response to the question: "What's your favorite
Muslimgauze release?"

"Infidel is definitely my favorite. He gave me that CD
when I went round, and he said 'Have a listen to this, and see what you think.'
That's one of my lasting memories. That's one track that is pretty close to
me. I'm trying to push Charles of Soleilmoon to re-release that one."

Gareth Jones, Bryn Jones' nephew.
Currently handling the business side of Muslimgauze.

"I really like Azzazin and Return of Black of September,
released by Staalplaat. From our own catalog I like Uzi Mahmood and Fakir Sind.
I also enjoyed City of Djinn, his collaboration with the Rootsman."

Charles Powne, owner of the Soleilmoon label.

"For my money, you can't beat Salaam Alakum, Bastard. It's
an absolute classic album from start to finish. Unfinished Mosque and Tandoori
Dog are other ones I find myself listening to again and again.

Rick Kinney, author of this article.

"He was getting better and better so I like the recent
stuff. I like material as Sandtrafikar."

Geert-Jan Hobijn, of the Staalplaat label.

"I am a terrible person to ask about favorites. My favorite
is the one I'm listening to at the time, though I will always have a soft spot
for Buddhist On Fire, as that is where the journey truly began [for me]. 'Arabs
Killed By Israel' makes up the first side of the Zealot 10" is one track
that stands out in my mind."

Terry Bennett, webmaster of the official Muslimgauze site.

article by Rick Kinney
This interview originally appeared in Industrial Nation Issue 20, 2004